The University of Sheffield has joined up with a UN project to reduce single-use plastics.

The campaign wants to raise awareness of what people can do in their own homes. As part of that the university is running a single-use plastics audit asking people to track their use of waste.

Joanne Bridgeland, Team Lead for the Journalism Studies Green Impact team at the university, said this activity aims to raise awareness of single-use plastic dependency and try to reduce it.

She said: “I became more aware and impassioned about the Climate Crisis within the last six years or so and became particularly aware of the harmful effects of single-use plastics within the last few years.”

She gave a few suggestions about small things you can do at home to protect the environment.

One of those is to minimize the amount of meat in your diet. Joining Monday’s meatless activity is one way. Research shows that a lot of land is used for animal farming and animal husbandry, and these systems produce many emissions.

Another thing is to try to switch to a renewable energy supplier and consider switching to a company that provides renewable energy.

Councillor Lewis Dagnall, Cabinet Member for Environment, Street-scene, and Climate Change at Sheffield City Council, said: “To achieve the best outcome for the environment, and to create local jobs, we need significant public investment by the UK Government in local recycling facilities.

“But it’s always worth remembering the motto ‘Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, Recover.’

“The first step is always to consider how we can reduce the amount of plastic waste we produce.”